Spoornet wins bid to manage Zambia Railways

Leonard Neill SPOORNET HAS won its bid against three other contenders to operate and manage the assets of Zambia Railways on a 25 year concession. The concession covers the entire Zambian rail operation. A Spoornet task team will meet Zambian officials early next month to complete the draft concession agreement. June 1 is the full takeover date, although Spoornet began working with Zambian rail officials last week. The South African rail authority is the leader in a consortium which includes CanadaÕs Canarail and the New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investments in the undertaking. New Limpopo Bridge is registered in Mauritius and comprises South African firms Nedcor Investment Bank, Old Mutual, Sanlam and Genbel Securities. The bid lodged was for freight services linking the Copperbelt city of Kitwe with Livingstone and a passenger service between Kitwe and Livingstone. Full details including the cost involved are to be announced by Spoornet headquarters shortly.